9/11 TEN YEAR MEMORIAL
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger Photographer: George Whylie Videographer: Maxine Nolan
As the door closes on yet another 9/11 anniversary, this one being the significant 10-year milestone, I am left with a greater understanding and definite closeness and deeper compassion for those that braved that horrible day in 2001 and lost loved ones.
It was an honor beyond words to be able to cover such a historical event and to be a part of the emotional tribute.
The sun was barely rising in the sky when we arrived but it was a patriotic feeling to gaze over at the new skyscraper escalating towards the clouds on the spot of Ground Zero and see the large American flag draping a portion of the building with a sense of strength and fortitude.
As we waited for the ceremony to begin, we were able to speak with family members of victims. Marina Benedetto-Paulie was getting ready to turn 18 and on that horrific morning she kissed her mom goodbye and she walked 3 blocks or so to school and her mother made her way up to her office in the South Tower at AON Insurance Corporation. That was the last time that she would see her mother. Mark Morrell, a stock trader, shared a sense of closeness with brother George and worked very close to the tower where his brother was working at Cantor Fitzgerald. Mark saw the horrifying events unfold from his office window but never saw his brother again and felt helpless to come to his aid. There are many stories as tragic as these two.
A lost and perished brother, sister, husband, wife, mother, father or cousin. The accounts are so very similar as are the feelings of sorrow and emptiness. Anger and grief have given way to numbness at times. Without finding their loved ones and being able to bury them, it is difficult to get full closure. There is never a day goes by that they don’t feel the bitter pain of loss and the notorious day of 9/11 will not soon be forgotten. The 9/11 anniversaries are difficult to bear but they manage. Each loved one that was lost was a kind and selfless individual willing to help, assist and reach out to become an imprint on others’ lives and be remembered as a special part of this world. Family members wore a small blue ribbon and most either wore a t-shirt with a picture of the lost member or carried a picture grasping it tightly to their chest.
Here are how the events of the morning unfolded:
8:28 AM Bagpipers and drummers begin processional
8:35 AM Program begins
Bagpipers and drummers lead WTC flag through memorial to the stage
Brooklyn Youth Chorus performs the National Anthem
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg introduces citywide moment of silence
8:46 AM Moment of silence (observance of time AA Flight 11 struck North Tower)
(Houses of worship will toll their bells throughout the City)
President Barack Obama delivers reading
Mayor Bloomberg introduces the reading of the names
Family members will begin reading the names in pairs
There will be 167 pairs (334 readers) who will continue until all names are read
Music will provide a backdrop throughout the program
9:03 AM Moment of silence (observance of time UA Flight 175 struck South Tower)
President George W. Bush delivers reading
Family member Peter Negron delivers reading
Yo-Yo Ma, who also performed on the one-year anniversary of 9/11, performs “Sarabande” from Bach’s First Suite for Cello Solo
Honor Guard ceremonially opens family entrance and families begin to enter the Memorial Plaza
Reading of names continues/music resumes
9:37 AM Moment of silence (observance of time AA Flight 77 struck the Pentagon)
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo delivers reading
Family member and retired NYPD officer James Smith and his daughter Patricia Smith deliver reading
James Taylor performs “Close Your Eyes”
Reading of names continues/music resumes
9:59 AM Moment of silence (observance of time of fall of the South Tower)
New Jersey Governor Chris J. Christie delivers reading
Solo flautist Emi Ferguson performs “Amazing Grace”
10:03 AM Moment of silence (observance of time UA Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania)
Former New York Governor George E. Pataki delivers reading
Reading of names continues/music resumes
10:28 AM Moment of silence (observance of time of fall of the North Tower)
Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani delivers reading
Family member Debra Epps delivers reading
Paul Simon performs “Sounds of Silence” *updated
Reading of names continues/music resumes
Former New Jersey Governor Donald T. DiFrancesco delivers reading
Reading of names continues to conclusion
Choral musical performance of “I Will Remember You”
Taps performed by four trumpeters (NYPD, FDNY, PAPD, and US Military)
1:00 PM Program concludes
4:00 PM World Trade Center Site Closes
There were remembrances all throughout the day in New York City, Washington DC and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. As was so appropriately put earlier in the day, let’s not remember the evil and the bad but instead share in unity and solidarity and focus on the good people that were lost that day and gave their lives for others.
Comments are closed.